Toast Sandwich- with Rajma & Salsa Sauce

My mom like every second Indian is a big fan of cricket. And today it was do or die situation for Indian crocket team for ICC 20-20 World Cup 2012. So she declared it was her holiday from cooking which meant Vruti prepare tonight’s dinner. J

I was thinking what to cook and when I remembered I had to pending recipe to try on my list- Refried Beans Quesadillas with Salsa Sauce. I came across this recipe when I was just browsing through net. I never really got time to try this out. Finally tonight I could try my hands on it.

Well I tried it out with bread because I never really cared to find out where exactly you get Tortillas here in Vapi. The taste was good like a different variety of toast sandwich (different than what I made earlier) which is rich in proteins. So this recipe is for those who are rajma (bean) fan...

Preparation time: 15 minutes (to cut vegetables)

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Makes: 12 big wedges

What goes in it to make stuffing:

Red kidney beans (Rajma), boiled- 500 gms  

Onion, sliced vertically- 1 medium sized

Garlic, finely chopped- 1 tbl spn

Cumin seeds (Jeera) - ½ tbl spn

Chilli flakes- 1 tbl spn 

Salt- as per your taste

Oil- 1 ½ tbl spn

Bread- 12 slices

Also you will need,

Cheese, grated- 3 cubes (I used Amul cheese cubes)

Coriander leaves, chopped- ½ cup

Pepper powder- ¼ cup

Butter- to apply on bread as per your wish

How did I make bean stuffing:

Wash and soak rajma in water overnight. Pressure cook rajma for about 10-12 whistles. As it is boiled drain off the water. Mash part of rajma with potato masher and keep it aside.

Well I forgot to mash rajma. And once they are cooled you cannot mash them so I just crushed half of rajma with hand blender.  I think that didnot make much of a difference to the taste.

Cut onions into small vertical slices.

Take a kadai and put oil in it. Heat it up. As oil heats, sauté cumin seeds and chopped garlic till they turn little brown. Add chiili flakes and sauté for about 1 more minute. 

Add rajma and salt to it. Mix them all well. Cook for 3-5 minutes by stirring generously.

Bean stuffing is ready.

What goes in to make Salsa Sauce:

Onion, finely chopped- 1 big sized

Tomato, finely chopped- 1 big sized

Capsicum, finely chopped- 1 big sized

Garlic, finely chopped- 1 tbl spn

Ajwain- ½ tbl spn

Sugar- 1 tbl spn

Red chilli ppwder- 1 tbl spn

Salt- as per your taste

Tomato ketchup- 2 tbl spn

Oil- 2 tbl spn

How did I make it:

Cut onion, capsicum and tomato into small square pieces.

Take a pan. Heat oil in it and prepare for tempering. Saute ajwain and garlic till it turns little brown. Add onion, tomato and capsicum and cook till onion turns golden brown. Put sugar, salt, red chilli powder and tomato ketchup. Keep stirring for about 5 minutes. Let it cool.

To make toast bread:

Take a bread slice. Apply butter on it.

Make a layer of bean stuffing. Spread it evenly.

Next spread salsa sauce evenly on it.

Top it off with grated cheese and coriander leaves.

Sprinkle a pinch of pepper.

Apply butter on another bread slice. Place it on the stuffing and press gently.

Toast it in a sandwich toaster until both the sides turn golden brown.

 Ready to be served with salsa sauce or green chutney.

Sabudana Khichdi

This is one of my favourite recipe. My daddy does not like it. So mom and I usually cook this when daddy is not at home for dinner. Yesterday daddy was out with his friends for dinner so we grabbed the opportunity of making sabudana khichdi which I had not eaten since months.

It is usually made during fasts. It is great blend of taste- sabudana, potato and crushed peanuts. Again when you sprinkle lemon juice to it, taste will be amazing.

You have to careful while soaking sabudana in water. You just have to put water enough to cover the sabudana.

What goes in it:

Sabudana (Sago) - 1 cup

Water- 1 cup

Potato, boiled and diced- 1 cup

Peanuts, grinded- ½ cup

Cumin seeds (Jeera) - ½ tbl spn

Asafoetida (Hing)- ¼ tbl spn

Curry leaves- 1 sprig or 5-6 leaves

Oil- 2 tbl spn

Green Chilli, finely chopped- 1 tbl spn

Lemon juice- 2 tbl spn (you can put more or less of lemon as per your taste)

Sugar- 1 ½ tbl spn

Salt- as per your taste

Coriander leaves, finely chopped- ½ cup

How did I make it:

Soak sabudana in water for about 4-5 hours in a flat bottomed vessel. Soak in water just enough to soak cover top of sabudana.

[Foodies’ Note: Be careful while soaking sabudana in water. If you use more of water then sabudana will become sticky.]

Once they turn soft and fine round shaped, they are ready to be cooked.

Meanwhile, wash and peel off potato. Boil them. Drain off the water and cut it into small cubes. Keep it aside.

Grind peanuts in a grinder.

Mix the coarse peanut powder with sabudana properly.

Take a kadai and prepare for tempering. Pour oil in it and heat it. As it heats up, put jeera and hing. As jeera crackles, put curry leaves and chopped green chillies to it. Sauté for about 1-2 minutes.

You can add coriander leaves here. Usually I add it while sautéing but this time forget to add it, so used it at end while garnishing.

Next put boiled potato, sugar, lemon juice and salt. Mix them all and let it cook for 1-2 minutes.

Finally add sabudana to it. And season generously till all the ingredients are properly mixed.

Take it off the stove. Serve it hot in a plate. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Bajra Wadi

Bajra wadi is one of the famous Gujarati snack prepared at home. I learnt this from my granny who often makes this tasty and quick to cook snack. She has it fondly with her morning and evening tea. 

It is delicious and can be easily made. It is also an ideal snack for picnics. You can have it hot or cold with tea or pickle or just alone but anyhow it will taste yummy. 

Preparation time: 10 minutes (to knead the dough and finely chop ingredients)

Cooking time: 20 minutes

What goes in it:

Dokla aatta (mixture of chana dal flour  and rice flour) - 1cup

Bajra aatta (Pearl millet, flour)- 1 ½ cup

Ginger, finely chopped- 2 tbl spn

Green chilli, finely chopped- 2 tbl spn

Garlic, finely chopped- 2 tbl spn

Sesame seeds (til)- 1 tbl spn

Coriander leaves, chopped- ½ cup

Sugar- 1 ½ tbl spn

Buttermilk- ½ glass (make sure buttermilk is sour)

Salt- as per your taste

Oil- to deep fry

How did I make it:

Take a wide bowl in which you can knead dough.

Put bajra aatta and dokhla aatta in it. Add sesame seeds, salt, sugar, chopped coriander leaves, about 1 tbl spn of oil and ginger-chilli-garlic paste. Mix them all well. Pour buttermilk to it. Keep on adding buttermilk little by little till you get pliable dough. Just keep the dough a little loose and soft.

Meanwhile pour oil in a kadai and let it heat.

Now make wadi. On patla put a wet cloth so that wadi does not stick to the patla. Take small chunk of dough and with the help of fingers slowly pat dough to give circular shaped wadi. Dip your fingers in water and then pat wadi so that you can easily give circular shape.

Slowly remove the wadi from patla and put them in kadai for frying. Deep fry both the sides of wadi till it turns dark golden brown.

Put it on absorbent paper to soak extra oil. Keep it aside.

As it cools down a bit, serve it with tea, some pickle or have it alone. I had it alone all by itself and it does taste good.

Jain Recipes (Quick Recap)

Here's the recap of Jain recipes which i cooked for this paryusan.

1. Panchmel dal Pudla

2. Poha

3. Chapatti Ladoo

4. Rasam Wada

5. Wheat Atta Sheera

6. Dosa with Coconut Chutney

Sada Dosa with Coconut Chutney

Dosa- yummy and crispy.

I am late on uploading this recipe but did not get much time because of festival. This is simple and quick recipe to cook though you need preplanning for making dosa batter.

This time had sada dosa with coconut chutney. I had made coconut chutney earlier for trirangi briyani but this time the recipe was jain i.e., without onion and garlic.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Sreves: 15-17 medium sized dosa

What goes it to make dosa batter:

Urad Dal (split black lentils) - 1 cup

Rice- 1 cup

Salt- as per taste

Water- 1 glass

How did I make it dosa batter:

Wash and soak rice and urad dal in water overnight in two separate cooking pots.

[Foodies Note: You use methi seeds to get nice fermentation for the batter especially in winter season. You can soak methi seeds along with urad dal.]

Next day morning, as the dal swells and rice softens up grind them separately in a wet jar of grinder. Before grinding do drain off the water.

Mix them both well and add salt to it. Keep it covered in a dark place for about 6-7 hours before making dosa.

What goes in to make coconut chutney:

Dried coconut, chopped- 1 nos

Curry leaves- 1 sprig or 4-5 leaves

Green chilli, chopped- 3-4 nos

Curd- 1 ½ cup

Sugar- 1 ½ tbl spn

Salt- as per taste

Oil- 2 tbl spn

Mustard seeds- ½ tbl spn

Asafoetida (Hing) - ½ tbl spn

How did I make coconut chutney:

Cut the dried coconut into small pieces.

Grind chopped coconut, curry leaves, green chilli, curd, salt and sugar together in a grinder.

Take out the chutney in a bowl.

Now in a small kadai, heat oil. As it heats up, temper mustard seeds and let them pop properly. Then add hing to it. 

Now add this to the chutney in the bowl and mix it well.

To make dosa:

Heat the non stick tawa.

To the batter add water to make it consistent enough so that it can be easily spread on the tawa. The mixture should be little thick so be careful when you mix water to the batter.

Pour a spoonful of batter in the centre, spread with the back of the spoon to a thin round. Put little ghee or oil around the sides. 

Cook both the sides till they turn golden brown and crisp (if you like crispy dosa). 

Remove with spatula. 

Serve hot with coconut chutney.

Wheat Atta Sheera/ Wheat Atta Halwa

Today is Sunday and Mahavir Jayanti (Birthday of 24^th Tirthankar God as according to Jain religion). Remember told that Jain festival- Paryusan is going on.  On the eve of Mahavir Jayanti, sweet toh banta hai. So at home prepared Wheat Sheera- again one of my favourite sweet.

This sheera when served hot tastes delicious and easily goes down from your throat to tummy. J

What goes in it:

Wheat flour- 1 cup

Water- 2 ½ cup

Jaggery- 1 cup

Ghee- ½ cup

Raisins (kismis)- ¼ cup

Fennel seeds (Variyali)- ¼ cup

To make it look yummy:

Cashew nuts (Kaju), sliced- 2-3 pieces

Almond (Badam), sliced- 2-3 pieces

How did I make it:

Boil water and jaggery in a cooking pot.  Once jaggery is melted, keep it aside.

Take a cooking pot, put ghee and wheat flour in it. Roast the flour in ghee till it turns dark brown. Cook it by continuously stirring it.

[Foodies Note: Keep on stirring properly to avoid formation of lumps and to keep it soft.]

Initial step when you heat ghee and wheat flour

As you heat, wheat flour will turn dark brown

Once the wheat flour is roasted, add melted jaggery, fennel seeds and kismis to it. And stir it continuously for about 10-15 minutes as the mixture thickens up. Turn off the stove then.

Transfer the warm sheera in a bowl or plate and garnish with sliced badam and kajju.

Serve delicious sheera hot.